WEBVTT 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:05.533 Well, let's pray before we look into the Word. 00:00:05.533 --> 00:00:07.604 Our Father, we ask You 00:00:07.604 --> 00:00:11.896 for Your Holy Spirit this evening - 00:00:11.896 --> 00:00:14.357 the Spirit of faith and power 00:00:14.357 --> 00:00:17.965 and love and of a sound mind. 00:00:17.965 --> 00:00:21.480 We ask You that You would glorify Yourself 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:23.993 that we'd come away 00:00:23.993 --> 00:00:28.112 with a little glimpse of who You are. 00:00:28.112 --> 00:00:29.447 Help us, Lord. 00:00:29.447 --> 00:00:32.109 We're not able to do that, 00:00:32.109 --> 00:00:33.759 but we pray that You would do it; 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:36.369 that You'd take control. 00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:42.697 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:42.697 --> 00:00:45.873 Well, our text this evening 00:00:45.873 --> 00:00:58.051 is found in Matthew 6:9. 00:00:58.051 --> 00:01:00.377 Matthew 6:9, 00:01:00.377 --> 00:01:02.800 and actually just the first part of the verse. 00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:07.532 "Pray then in this way, 00:01:07.532 --> 00:01:11.406 'Our Father, who is in Heaven...'" 00:01:11.406 --> 00:01:14.344 "Pray then in this way, 00:01:14.344 --> 00:01:17.238 'Our Father, who is in Heaven...'" 00:01:17.238 --> 00:01:19.842 As you know, these are the first words 00:01:19.842 --> 00:01:22.327 of what's called "the Lord's Prayer." 00:01:22.327 --> 00:01:24.959 Maybe a better name would be 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:27.946 the "model prayer" or the "pattern prayer" 00:01:27.946 --> 00:01:31.217 because the Lord is giving us this prayer 00:01:31.217 --> 00:01:35.087 as a pattern for our own praying. 00:01:35.087 --> 00:01:38.349 And as for the larger context, 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:42.303 this prayer comes about in the middle 00:01:42.303 --> 00:01:44.978 of what we know as the Sermon on the Mount, 00:01:44.978 --> 00:01:48.203 and this glorious passage of Scripture 00:01:48.203 --> 00:01:52.287 that begins at the beginning of Matthew 5 00:01:52.287 --> 00:01:57.116 and goes all the way to the end of Matthew 7. 00:01:57.116 --> 00:01:59.609 And at the end of this sermon, 00:01:59.609 --> 00:02:01.329 Matthew makes this comment. 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:06.044 He says, "the result was that when Jesus 00:02:06.044 --> 00:02:08.471 had finished these words, 00:02:08.471 --> 00:02:12.670 the multitudes were amazed at His teaching." 00:02:12.670 --> 00:02:16.510 They were amazed at His teaching. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:16.510 --> 00:02:19.305 A couple of years ago there in Kirksville, 00:02:19.305 --> 00:02:21.145 we spent some time considering 00:02:21.145 --> 00:02:26.998 the amazing teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ; 00:02:26.998 --> 00:02:29.745 the radical teachings of Jesus. 00:02:29.745 --> 00:02:32.581 And by the time we finished the series, 00:02:32.581 --> 00:02:35.834 I basically had come to the conclusion 00:02:35.834 --> 00:02:40.428 that everything the Lord Jesus taught was radical. 00:02:40.428 --> 00:02:42.617 It's amazing. I mean, think of it. 00:02:42.617 --> 00:02:46.904 "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 00:02:46.904 --> 00:02:50.494 than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 00:02:50.494 --> 00:02:54.731 What a shocking word that was in that setting! 00:02:54.731 --> 00:03:00.013 "Every idle word that a man shall speak, 00:03:00.013 --> 00:03:01.700 he shall give account for it 00:03:01.700 --> 00:03:02.898 in the day of judgment." 00:03:02.898 --> 00:03:04.287 You know that has to be true. 00:03:04.287 --> 00:03:06.512 God's not going to let some things slip by, 00:03:06.512 --> 00:03:09.684 but just think about that. 00:03:09.684 --> 00:03:13.323 "That which is highly esteemed among men..." 00:03:13.323 --> 00:03:14.438 Think of that. 00:03:14.438 --> 00:03:15.998 "...Highly esteemed among men 00:03:15.998 --> 00:03:20.515 is an abomination in the sight of God." 00:03:20.515 --> 00:03:23.989 "Unless a man is born again, 00:03:23.989 --> 00:03:26.344 he can't see the Kingdom of Heaven." 00:03:26.344 --> 00:03:28.126 You've got to be born two times. 00:03:28.126 --> 00:03:29.517 Think of these things! 00:03:29.517 --> 00:03:32.399 Just one after another! 00:03:32.399 --> 00:03:35.241 "Don't think that I came to bring peace on the earth. 00:03:35.241 --> 00:03:37.651 I did not come to bring peace, 00:03:37.651 --> 00:03:40.035 but a sword." 00:03:40.035 --> 00:03:42.952 "Strive to enter at the narrow gate; 00:03:42.952 --> 00:03:45.075 for many will seek 00:03:45.075 --> 00:03:49.139 and will not be able." 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:54.281 "Before Abraham was born, I am." 00:03:54.281 --> 00:03:57.436 "No one knows the Father except the Son, 00:03:57.436 --> 00:03:59.719 and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:00.809 Think of this. 00:04:00.809 --> 00:04:02.704 Jesus said nobody in the whole world 00:04:02.704 --> 00:04:06.542 knows the Father except for Me, 00:04:06.542 --> 00:04:09.593 and anybody that I choose to reveal Him to. 00:04:09.593 --> 00:04:11.689 Well, we could go on and on, couldn't we? 00:04:11.689 --> 00:04:13.377 The wonderful, radical, 00:04:13.377 --> 00:04:17.061 world-changing teachings of Jesus. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:17.061 --> 00:04:20.066 But tonight then, I'd like for us to focus on one thing; 00:04:20.066 --> 00:04:22.078 one of those teachings, 00:04:22.078 --> 00:04:24.154 and that is the teaching of the Lord Jesus 00:04:24.154 --> 00:04:27.014 concerning the fatherhood of God. 00:04:27.014 --> 00:04:29.137 "Pray then in this way, 00:04:29.137 --> 00:04:33.554 'Our Father, who is in Heaven..." 00:04:33.554 --> 00:04:35.959 We can't imagine how radical 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:39.509 and earth-shaking these words were 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:41.278 in the day in which they were spoken. 00:04:41.278 --> 00:04:43.012 The Jews had heard many times 00:04:43.012 --> 00:04:44.742 of the fatherhood of God 00:04:44.742 --> 00:04:49.826 in relation to the corporate nation of Israel. 00:04:49.826 --> 00:04:52.118 Just one example: 00:04:52.118 --> 00:04:53.379 Hosea 11:1, 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:55.929 "When Israel was a youth, 00:04:55.929 --> 00:04:57.619 I loved him, 00:04:57.619 --> 00:05:01.098 and out of Egypt I called My son." 00:05:01.098 --> 00:05:02.423 So there's the Father - 00:05:02.423 --> 00:05:05.250 the Father of Israel His son 00:05:05.250 --> 00:05:06.530 in a corporate sense. 00:05:06.530 --> 00:05:09.597 And even on the individual level, 00:05:09.597 --> 00:05:11.565 there were some passages, 00:05:11.565 --> 00:05:14.095 like Isaiah 43:6, He says, 00:05:14.095 --> 00:05:17.026 "Bring My sons from afar 00:05:17.026 --> 00:05:20.003 and my daughters from the ends of the earth." 00:05:20.003 --> 00:05:21.803 So there were some things like that, 00:05:21.803 --> 00:05:24.865 but when it came to the matter of private prayer, 00:05:24.865 --> 00:05:27.809 the Jews never addressed God 00:05:27.809 --> 00:05:29.617 as "our Father." 00:05:29.617 --> 00:05:32.933 In fact, those who have done a thorough study 00:05:32.933 --> 00:05:35.701 of the rabbinic writings 00:05:35.701 --> 00:05:38.427 just in recent years, 00:05:38.427 --> 00:05:41.913 say that no Jew ever used the term "father" 00:05:41.913 --> 00:05:44.723 as a direct address to God 00:05:44.723 --> 00:05:49.374 until the 10th century A.D. 00:05:49.374 --> 00:05:51.760 In other words, Christians had been saying 00:05:51.760 --> 00:05:54.317 "our Father" for 1,000 years 00:05:54.317 --> 00:05:57.486 before any Jew began to do that 00:05:57.486 --> 00:06:00.795 as far as any records that we have. 00:06:00.795 --> 00:06:02.681 They spoke of "the Father," 00:06:02.681 --> 00:06:05.019 but they never used the term "Father" 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:06.469 to address God in prayer. 00:06:06.469 --> 00:06:08.907 Yet, Jesus did it repeatedly, 00:06:08.907 --> 00:06:11.557 and He taught us to do it. 00:06:11.557 --> 00:06:13.751 He said, "When you pray, 00:06:13.751 --> 00:06:17.979 pray like this, 'Our Father in Heaven.'" NOTE Paragraph 00:06:17.979 --> 00:06:21.075 Beloved, if you are Christian, 00:06:21.075 --> 00:06:24.315 God is your Father in a way 00:06:24.315 --> 00:06:29.568 that far exceeds any fatherly relationship 00:06:29.568 --> 00:06:34.151 that He had with the corporate nation of Israel. 00:06:34.151 --> 00:06:36.792 In fact, God is your Father 00:06:36.792 --> 00:06:41.613 in the most intimate, personal way imaginable. 00:06:41.613 --> 00:06:44.833 You have been born of God. 00:06:44.833 --> 00:06:48.311 John says born, "not of the will of the flesh 00:06:48.311 --> 00:06:50.891 or the will of man, but born of God." 00:06:50.891 --> 00:06:53.230 And he goes so far in 1 John, 00:06:53.230 --> 00:06:55.422 he says, "God's seed remains in you." 00:06:55.422 --> 00:06:58.685 We would have never said something like that, but he says that. 00:06:58.685 --> 00:07:01.729 "God's seed remains in you." 00:07:01.729 --> 00:07:04.161 You've been born of God. 00:07:04.161 --> 00:07:09.057 This fatherly relationship with God. 00:07:09.057 --> 00:07:11.699 In another place, he says we've become - 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:13.464 Peter says, we've become 00:07:13.464 --> 00:07:18.814 "partakers of the divine nature." 00:07:18.814 --> 00:07:22.117 You're a child of God, 00:07:22.117 --> 00:07:24.083 both by legal adoption 00:07:24.083 --> 00:07:26.213 and by spiritual birth. 00:07:26.213 --> 00:07:28.458 And from deep within you 00:07:28.458 --> 00:07:31.299 comes welling up this elemental cry, 00:07:31.299 --> 00:07:33.506 "Abba, Father." 00:07:33.506 --> 00:07:35.627 Abba, Father. 00:07:35.627 --> 00:07:39.048 An intimate, love relationship with the God of the universe. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:39.048 --> 00:07:41.650 Beloved, this is a fatherhood 00:07:41.650 --> 00:07:46.647 that's far deeper than any human fatherhood. 00:07:46.647 --> 00:07:51.499 It's the reality of which the best earthly father 00:07:51.499 --> 00:07:54.008 is only a shadow. 00:07:54.008 --> 00:07:56.849 In fact, God created earthly fathers 00:07:56.849 --> 00:07:58.506 so we'd have some idea 00:07:58.506 --> 00:08:00.713 of what He's talking about when He says 00:08:00.713 --> 00:08:03.013 He's our Father. 00:08:03.013 --> 00:08:06.723 Sadly, many of you may have had fathers 00:08:06.723 --> 00:08:09.063 that you have to try to forget about 00:08:09.063 --> 00:08:11.756 in order to get a right concept of God. 00:08:11.756 --> 00:08:14.745 But to the degree that there's common grace - 00:08:14.745 --> 00:08:16.890 I know myself and my home, 00:08:16.890 --> 00:08:19.894 my father did not truly know the Lord, 00:08:19.894 --> 00:08:21.426 but we went to church, 00:08:21.426 --> 00:08:25.610 and he, in many ways, 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:30.331 gave me a glimpse of what it is to be a father. 00:08:30.331 --> 00:08:32.610 But all of those things are shadows. 00:08:32.610 --> 00:08:35.319 God created earthly fatherhood 00:08:35.319 --> 00:08:40.183 as the type of which He is the anti-type 00:08:40.183 --> 00:08:41.282 or the true Father. 00:08:41.282 --> 00:08:43.541 He is the only real Father 00:08:43.541 --> 00:08:45.823 that any of us will ever have. 00:08:45.823 --> 00:08:49.770 He's what fathers are supposed to be. 00:08:49.770 --> 00:08:53.232 And the Lord Jesus says this in Matthew 23:9, 00:08:53.232 --> 00:08:57.150 "Do not call anyone on earth your father. 00:08:57.150 --> 00:09:01.110 For one is your Father - He who is in Heaven." 00:09:01.110 --> 00:09:04.493 He's the real deal. 00:09:04.493 --> 00:09:07.969 Those other fathers are shadows. 00:09:07.969 --> 00:09:11.824 Hebrews 12:9, "We had fathers of our flesh 00:09:11.824 --> 00:09:13.937 to discipline us, and we respected them. 00:09:13.937 --> 00:09:15.833 Shall we not much rather be subject 00:09:15.833 --> 00:09:19.060 to the Father of spirits and live?" 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:21.585 So the best earthly fathers 00:09:21.585 --> 00:09:24.539 try to be on a human level 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:30.858 what really only God can be to us. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:30.858 --> 00:09:34.222 But Jesus not only taught us to say, "Father," to God, 00:09:34.222 --> 00:09:37.630 He taught us to say, "Our Father." 00:09:37.630 --> 00:09:39.089 And this means, first of all, 00:09:39.089 --> 00:09:42.872 He's my father on an individual, personal level. 00:09:42.872 --> 00:09:44.688 And we've said that. 00:09:44.688 --> 00:09:47.612 But think of this, 00:09:47.612 --> 00:09:49.789 in teaching this, He's teaching us 00:09:49.789 --> 00:09:52.685 that we're part of a family; 00:09:52.685 --> 00:09:56.204 that we've got brothers and sisters. 00:09:56.204 --> 00:09:59.127 So there's true fatherhood - 00:09:59.127 --> 00:10:04.950 the only real fatherhood that ever was. 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:08.677 And the real family - 00:10:08.677 --> 00:10:10.885 true brothers and sisters on a level 00:10:10.885 --> 00:10:13.842 that's never been in an earthly family. 00:10:13.842 --> 00:10:15.070 Think of that. 00:10:15.070 --> 00:10:18.652 And so we gather together as a family. 00:10:18.652 --> 00:10:22.790 And we lift our voices and say, "Our Father." 00:10:22.790 --> 00:10:25.674 Our Father. 00:10:25.674 --> 00:10:27.913 I mean, when we come to the place, 00:10:27.913 --> 00:10:29.425 when all these little things 00:10:29.425 --> 00:10:32.448 that our brother talked about this morning 00:10:32.448 --> 00:10:34.676 that we separate over this and that, 00:10:34.676 --> 00:10:36.173 when we come to the place 00:10:36.173 --> 00:10:38.680 where all that falls away and we stand 00:10:38.680 --> 00:10:42.131 in the presence of our Father, 00:10:42.131 --> 00:10:44.769 we will feel a love for each other 00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:47.644 that is unimaginable. 00:10:47.644 --> 00:10:54.518 Brothers and sisters of the true Father. 00:10:54.518 --> 00:10:58.229 Men from every tribe and tongue and nation. 00:10:58.229 --> 00:10:59.157 Think of that. 00:10:59.157 --> 00:11:00.539 Wasn't that glorious to see 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:02.808 all those different languages? 00:11:02.808 --> 00:11:06.630 And there's so many more - there's thousands more. 00:11:06.630 --> 00:11:09.507 All one in Christ. 00:11:09.507 --> 00:11:11.016 All part of the same family. 00:11:11.016 --> 00:11:12.875 All from the same Father. 00:11:12.875 --> 00:11:16.014 All born from the same Father. 00:11:16.014 --> 00:11:21.510 Indwelt by the same Spirit. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:21.510 --> 00:11:23.369 Well, God is our Father. 00:11:23.369 --> 00:11:24.930 What else does Jesus say? 00:11:24.930 --> 00:11:26.045 Not only our Father, 00:11:26.045 --> 00:11:30.284 but He's our Father in Heaven. 00:11:30.284 --> 00:11:31.585 In Heaven. 00:11:31.585 --> 00:11:34.441 In other words, He's in a different realm 00:11:34.441 --> 00:11:35.573 than we are. 00:11:35.573 --> 00:11:38.052 He's the Creator. 00:11:38.052 --> 00:11:39.820 We're the creature. 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:41.315 He's infinite. 00:11:41.315 --> 00:11:44.915 We're finite. 00:11:44.915 --> 00:11:47.205 You know, we use this word "infinite" - 00:11:47.205 --> 00:11:48.670 we don't really have any idea 00:11:48.670 --> 00:11:51.560 what that words means. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:51.560 --> 00:11:53.628 When I used to study math in college, 00:11:53.628 --> 00:11:55.240 we would talk about 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.536 a particular function at a certain point - 00:11:58.536 --> 00:12:00.708 it goes to infinity we'd say. 00:12:00.708 --> 00:12:02.302 It goes to infinity. 00:12:02.302 --> 00:12:03.754 And in your mind, you picture 00:12:03.754 --> 00:12:07.166 this really, really, really large number 00:12:07.166 --> 00:12:09.682 that looks like this... 00:12:09.682 --> 00:12:12.502 it goes to infinity. 00:12:12.502 --> 00:12:14.455 But you see, once you get to that number, 00:12:14.455 --> 00:12:16.818 you're not any closer whatsoever 00:12:16.818 --> 00:12:20.440 to getting to infinity 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.431 because there isn't any end to it. 00:12:24.431 --> 00:12:27.913 And so you travel a million, million, million miles 00:12:27.913 --> 00:12:30.336 and you haven't gotten any closer whatsoever 00:12:30.336 --> 00:12:33.689 because there isn't any place - you're never going to get there. 00:12:33.689 --> 00:12:35.773 You don't get any closer. 00:12:35.773 --> 00:12:38.270 Those are when you think in terms of space 00:12:38.270 --> 00:12:39.746 or in terms of numbers, 00:12:39.746 --> 00:12:41.836 but when we think in terms of God, 00:12:41.836 --> 00:12:48.994 infinite - we don't even know what that means. 00:12:48.994 --> 00:12:52.429 But He's infinite. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:56.959 So, how far have we come already? 00:12:56.959 --> 00:12:59.072 Well, Jesus said pray like this: 00:12:59.072 --> 00:13:00.252 "Our Father in Heaven." 00:13:00.252 --> 00:13:02.259 What's it mean? It means that we are 00:13:02.259 --> 00:13:03.998 in a love relationship, 00:13:03.998 --> 00:13:08.058 an intimate family relationship with God, 00:13:08.058 --> 00:13:10.711 and the God that we're in this relationship with 00:13:10.711 --> 00:13:15.585 is both personal and infinite. 00:13:15.585 --> 00:13:18.928 He's our Father in Heaven. 00:13:18.928 --> 00:13:22.102 Both personal and infinite. 00:13:22.102 --> 00:13:25.858 And that's the foundation and governing reality 00:13:25.858 --> 00:13:29.214 of the Lord's prayer that follows after, 00:13:29.214 --> 00:13:30.644 and all prayers, 00:13:30.644 --> 00:13:34.034 and the whole Christian life; 00:13:34.034 --> 00:13:39.056 that our Father is both infinite and personal. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:39.056 --> 00:13:42.358 Charles Hodge pointed out many years ago 00:13:42.358 --> 00:13:45.077 that the human mind left to itself 00:13:45.077 --> 00:13:48.413 cannot come up with that. 00:13:48.413 --> 00:13:52.428 When men start thinking about God, 00:13:52.428 --> 00:13:54.396 and they start moving in the direction 00:13:54.396 --> 00:13:56.302 of an infinite God, 00:13:56.302 --> 00:13:59.757 they lose His personality. 00:13:59.757 --> 00:14:01.676 And you see that in Eastern religion. 00:14:01.676 --> 00:14:04.803 They talk about a god as a little-g god 00:14:04.803 --> 00:14:07.878 that is another name for everything. 00:14:07.878 --> 00:14:10.569 But the God of Hinduism for example 00:14:10.569 --> 00:14:13.098 is not a personal God. 00:14:13.098 --> 00:14:16.285 It's just another word. It's an "it." 00:14:16.285 --> 00:14:18.418 A word for everything. 00:14:18.418 --> 00:14:22.263 And some of you know about reincarnation. 00:14:22.263 --> 00:14:24.157 You know that you're reborn, 00:14:24.157 --> 00:14:25.993 you're reborn, you're on this wheel. 00:14:25.993 --> 00:14:30.756 The idea is to get off of the wheel of rebirth 00:14:30.756 --> 00:14:33.549 and to blend back into the nothingness 00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:37.896 of the impersonal. 00:14:37.896 --> 00:14:40.361 Hindus don't want to be reborn; 00:14:40.361 --> 00:14:41.968 they want to get off of that 00:14:41.968 --> 00:14:44.983 and blend back into nothingness. 00:14:44.983 --> 00:14:46.242 Why am I saying that? 00:14:46.242 --> 00:14:51.524 Well, because there's no place for a person 00:14:51.524 --> 00:14:54.598 or for personality in Hinduism 00:14:54.598 --> 00:14:58.190 because the god of Hinduism is impersonal. 00:14:58.190 --> 00:14:59.998 In other words, it can't hear; 00:14:59.998 --> 00:15:02.097 it can't speak. 00:15:02.097 --> 00:15:06.896 It's less than we are. 00:15:06.896 --> 00:15:08.695 And the Hindu idea of nirvana 00:15:08.695 --> 00:15:11.129 is not at all like a Christian idea of heaven. 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:13.273 It's a negation of personality; 00:15:13.273 --> 00:15:17.175 not an affirmation of who you are. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:17.175 --> 00:15:24.809 And so, you know in Buddhism, 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:26.049 you have this saying, 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:30.923 "man enters the water and leaves no ripple." 00:15:30.923 --> 00:15:34.220 In Christianity, you have: man enters the water 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:37.798 and leaves ripples that go on forever. 00:15:37.798 --> 00:15:43.006 Because God is personal 00:15:43.006 --> 00:15:45.043 as well as infinite. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:45.043 --> 00:15:46.951 But anyway, you go in that direction - 00:15:46.951 --> 00:15:48.543 the mind of man has the infinite. 00:15:48.543 --> 00:15:50.044 You go in the other direction, 00:15:50.044 --> 00:15:52.981 you have the personal gods, but they're not infinite. 00:15:52.981 --> 00:15:56.971 Greek gods are like that. 00:15:56.971 --> 00:15:59.020 This is popular in our day - 00:15:59.020 --> 00:16:01.159 all these various "gods." 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:03.414 And they're a bunch of big men and women 00:16:03.414 --> 00:16:05.761 fighting each other. 00:16:05.761 --> 00:16:08.208 And they're nothing. 00:16:08.208 --> 00:16:10.459 You see, you have personality, 00:16:10.459 --> 00:16:12.619 but unless God is infinite, 00:16:12.619 --> 00:16:14.862 He's just a big man who can't help you. 00:16:14.862 --> 00:16:18.318 He's in the same predicament you're in. 00:16:18.318 --> 00:16:21.062 But if you've got a God who exists - 00:16:21.062 --> 00:16:23.153 I mean, we can imagine a fire that burns; 00:16:23.153 --> 00:16:24.559 you keep putting logs on it. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:29.627 We can't imagine a fire that burns on its own forever. 00:16:29.627 --> 00:16:32.219 These are some of the things that we're talking about 00:16:32.219 --> 00:16:34.881 when we talk about a self-existent, 00:16:34.881 --> 00:16:38.992 infinite, personal God. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:38.992 --> 00:16:42.004 So, our God is both infinite and personal, 00:16:42.004 --> 00:16:46.267 and with Him we have answers to everything. 00:16:46.267 --> 00:16:48.302 But, oh, what a hard time we have 00:16:48.302 --> 00:16:50.229 holding on to both realities. 00:16:50.229 --> 00:16:54.606 The mind of man wants to go one way or the other constantly. 00:16:54.606 --> 00:16:58.131 If we start seeing how great God is, 00:16:58.131 --> 00:16:59.646 immediately we start thinking 00:16:59.646 --> 00:17:03.738 what could He care about my little problems. 00:17:03.738 --> 00:17:05.660 And He gets more and more removed 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:08.941 from really entering in to our feelings 00:17:08.941 --> 00:17:10.360 and our trials. 00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:11.975 You start going the other way 00:17:11.975 --> 00:17:13.546 and you really begin to realize 00:17:13.546 --> 00:17:14.725 how much God cares, 00:17:14.725 --> 00:17:17.025 and you start thinking of Him as little. 00:17:17.025 --> 00:17:19.455 You know, He's torn with the same problems you are, 00:17:19.455 --> 00:17:21.118 and He can't figure out what to do, 00:17:21.118 --> 00:17:22.676 and He's struggling with things. 00:17:22.676 --> 00:17:27.762 You see this in false theology. 00:17:27.762 --> 00:17:32.581 You see both directions all the time. 00:17:32.581 --> 00:17:35.973 But God is both infinite and personal. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:35.973 --> 00:17:37.574 So, first of all, He's infinite. 00:17:37.574 --> 00:17:39.951 He's in Heaven. 00:17:39.951 --> 00:17:42.119 And that's absolutely foundational 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:44.884 to the whole Christian life, 00:17:44.884 --> 00:17:47.394 and to every prayer that the Christian prays. 00:17:47.394 --> 00:17:51.039 "Thy kingdom come." 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.304 Well, God's infinite. 00:17:52.304 --> 00:17:55.041 He's able to make His kingdom come. 00:17:55.041 --> 00:17:57.955 John the Baptist said God's able from these stones 00:17:57.955 --> 00:18:00.977 to raise up children unto Abraham. 00:18:00.977 --> 00:18:02.754 So, we got out and look at things 00:18:02.754 --> 00:18:04.972 and say it's impossible - 00:18:04.972 --> 00:18:06.293 what's God going to do? 00:18:06.293 --> 00:18:08.322 Look at Islam. 00:18:08.322 --> 00:18:10.550 I've read accounts in the last year or so 00:18:10.550 --> 00:18:13.142 of people in Mecca having dreams 00:18:13.142 --> 00:18:15.012 that led them to read the New Testament 00:18:15.012 --> 00:18:17.605 and get converted. 00:18:17.605 --> 00:18:22.291 I mean, God's able to do anything. 00:18:22.291 --> 00:18:26.370 He's able to save, 00:18:26.370 --> 00:18:28.524 no matter how obstinate 00:18:28.524 --> 00:18:34.024 and impossible the sinner is. 00:18:34.024 --> 00:18:38.810 God says to Ezekiel, "Son of man," 00:18:38.810 --> 00:18:40.476 you know, he went out and looked 00:18:40.476 --> 00:18:41.941 at that valley of dry bones; 00:18:41.941 --> 00:18:45.145 there were very many and they were very dry. 00:18:45.145 --> 00:18:50.915 And God says, "Son of man, can these bones live?" NOTE Paragraph 00:18:50.915 --> 00:18:52.394 I remember, years ago, 00:18:52.394 --> 00:18:54.635 I used to live in Lawrence, Kansas. 00:18:54.635 --> 00:18:58.068 One time, I went to the natural history museum there. 00:18:58.068 --> 00:18:59.478 It was late in the day 00:18:59.478 --> 00:19:01.984 and I think I was about the only person in there. 00:19:01.984 --> 00:19:04.604 I probably was the only person in there. 00:19:04.604 --> 00:19:08.426 And I walked around in those hallways 00:19:08.426 --> 00:19:10.260 with my footsteps echoing, 00:19:10.260 --> 00:19:13.308 looking at those bones. 00:19:13.308 --> 00:19:16.712 "Son of man, can these bones live?" 00:19:16.712 --> 00:19:19.304 And you look at the bones 00:19:19.304 --> 00:19:20.314 of those tar pits 00:19:20.314 --> 00:19:22.382 and those saber-tooth tigers and all that, 00:19:22.382 --> 00:19:24.838 and you look at them - they're very dry 00:19:24.838 --> 00:19:29.705 after thousands of years. 00:19:29.705 --> 00:19:33.603 But God speaks and they begin to come together. 00:19:33.603 --> 00:19:35.185 You see, this is the foundation. 00:19:35.185 --> 00:19:38.363 God's infinite power is the foundation 00:19:38.363 --> 00:19:40.738 of our praying for the kingdom to come. 00:19:40.738 --> 00:19:42.898 Nothing can stop Him 00:19:42.898 --> 00:19:46.919 from bringing in His kingdom! 00:19:46.919 --> 00:19:48.898 He's infinite in power! 00:19:48.898 --> 00:19:50.740 He can do anything! 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:53.266 He can keep kings from sleeping at night 00:19:53.266 --> 00:19:56.490 so they happen to pick up a book and read it, 00:19:56.490 --> 00:20:04.132 and that type of thing, you know? 00:20:04.132 --> 00:20:07.537 He can save your child. 00:20:07.537 --> 00:20:09.378 He can save the most impossible cases. 00:20:09.378 --> 00:20:10.575 The devil will tell you, 00:20:10.575 --> 00:20:12.969 "look, God's a God of the mountains, 00:20:12.969 --> 00:20:15.182 but not the valleys." 00:20:15.182 --> 00:20:19.700 "He can save so-and-so, but this problem's different." 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:21.871 "You never hear about anybody getting saved 00:20:21.871 --> 00:20:24.999 with that kind or problem." 00:20:24.999 --> 00:20:26.947 God hears that and He says, 00:20:26.947 --> 00:20:36.008 "We'll see about that." NOTE Paragraph 00:20:36.008 --> 00:20:37.479 Daily bread? 00:20:37.479 --> 00:20:40.118 Just think about these requests in the Lord's prayer. 00:20:40.118 --> 00:20:42.891 Daily bread? You need daily bread? He's infinite in power. 00:20:42.891 --> 00:20:45.236 He's able to bend heaven and earth 00:20:45.236 --> 00:20:46.848 to get daily bread to you. 00:20:46.848 --> 00:20:49.327 He's able to do far above 00:20:49.327 --> 00:20:50.905 all we can ask or think. 00:20:50.905 --> 00:20:54.424 He's able to make all grace abound to you 00:20:54.424 --> 00:20:57.531 that always having all sufficiency in everything 00:20:57.531 --> 00:21:03.620 you may have an abundance for every good work. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:05.743 I remember Bob Jennings told me, 00:21:05.743 --> 00:21:08.664 and Terri may have to correct me on some of the details, 00:21:08.664 --> 00:21:14.329 but one time, when they didn't have any money, 00:21:14.329 --> 00:21:18.471 and they're praying and need daily bread, 00:21:18.471 --> 00:21:22.076 and as I recall, it was in the parking lot 00:21:22.076 --> 00:21:25.200 of the grocery store. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.118 They got out and he said the wind was blowing 00:21:28.118 --> 00:21:32.604 and it blew a dollar bill up to his feet. 00:21:32.604 --> 00:21:34.968 Well, you can't buy much food with a dollar bill, 00:21:34.968 --> 00:21:36.032 but it's God saying, 00:21:36.032 --> 00:21:41.172 "look, I can give you a windfall. 00:21:41.172 --> 00:21:44.051 I can do anything. 00:21:44.051 --> 00:21:45.413 I just want to remind you, 00:21:45.413 --> 00:21:51.818 I'm in charge of this." 00:21:51.818 --> 00:21:53.996 If we put together the testimonies 00:21:53.996 --> 00:21:55.490 in this room tonight 00:21:55.490 --> 00:21:59.690 of all the miraculous provisions, 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:02.869 I mean, it would be astounding. 00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:04.547 I used to keep a book of that 00:22:04.547 --> 00:22:06.876 until the book got full. 00:22:06.876 --> 00:22:08.975 One thing after another where God 00:22:08.975 --> 00:22:15.700 faithfully provides in ways that we can't imagine. NOTE Paragraph 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:19.904 Knowledge. 00:22:19.904 --> 00:22:22.249 Francis Schaeffer used to say, 00:22:22.249 --> 00:22:24.666 "There's no black hole back of God." 00:22:24.666 --> 00:22:27.196 There's no hidden things that He doesn't know. 00:22:27.196 --> 00:22:28.585 He knows everything. 00:22:28.585 --> 00:22:30.792 He's infinite. 00:22:30.792 --> 00:22:32.144 Because He knows everything, 00:22:32.144 --> 00:22:34.321 nothing's going to come out of the darkness 00:22:34.321 --> 00:22:38.622 and surprise Him and overthrow His plans. 00:22:38.622 --> 00:22:40.832 Providence. We talked about that last year. 00:22:40.832 --> 00:22:42.778 He's able to control every insect, 00:22:42.778 --> 00:22:44.566 every snowflake, everything, 00:22:44.566 --> 00:22:55.122 every aspect because He's infinite! 00:22:55.122 --> 00:22:56.364 Deliverance from sin? 00:22:56.364 --> 00:22:58.854 God's infinite. He's able. 00:22:58.854 --> 00:23:00.473 Beloved, do you believe this? 00:23:00.473 --> 00:23:02.636 He's able to take the most helpless, 00:23:02.636 --> 00:23:04.710 hopeless drunk or drug addict 00:23:04.710 --> 00:23:06.521 and make them stand. 00:23:06.521 --> 00:23:08.317 And Paul says stand he will, 00:23:08.317 --> 00:23:16.041 for God is able to make him stand. 00:23:16.041 --> 00:23:17.538 We used to sing that song, 00:23:17.538 --> 00:23:20.478 "It's the grandest theme in the earth or main, 00:23:20.478 --> 00:23:27.844 our God is able to deliver thee." 00:23:27.844 --> 00:23:31.174 Praying for some weak and struggling brother? 00:23:31.174 --> 00:23:33.507 God's infinite. 00:23:33.507 --> 00:23:35.643 He's able to keep Him from falling 00:23:35.643 --> 00:23:38.564 and present him faultless before the presence of His glory 00:23:38.564 --> 00:23:41.191 with exceeding joy. 00:23:41.191 --> 00:23:44.541 Praying in relation to the powers of darkness 00:23:44.541 --> 00:23:48.107 pressing around? 00:23:48.107 --> 00:23:50.111 Brother Dan told me that over there 00:23:50.111 --> 00:23:51.981 where they're laboring, 00:23:51.981 --> 00:23:53.279 you feel it, you feel it, 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:55.033 he's laboring under it all the time. 00:23:55.033 --> 00:24:03.212 I didn't feel it because he's bearing it. 00:24:03.212 --> 00:24:04.931 God's infinite. 00:24:04.931 --> 00:24:07.334 Principalities and powers are nothing to Him. 00:24:07.334 --> 00:24:09.762 Greater is He who is in you - how much greater? 00:24:09.762 --> 00:24:11.656 Infinitely greater! 00:24:11.656 --> 00:24:13.610 He's not just a little bit greater; 00:24:13.610 --> 00:24:16.323 He's infinitely greater. 00:24:16.323 --> 00:24:18.345 Jesus is dealing with a legion of demons. 00:24:18.345 --> 00:24:28.654 He just says, "Go." 00:24:28.654 --> 00:24:29.667 God is infinite. 00:24:29.667 --> 00:24:32.380 We come to Him with reverence and awe 00:24:32.380 --> 00:24:35.231 as the one who is infinitely exalted. 00:24:35.231 --> 00:24:37.839 You know, even the Lord Jesus Himself 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:41.765 in John 17, He says, "O Righteous Father." 00:24:41.765 --> 00:24:44.206 "Holy Father." 00:24:44.206 --> 00:24:48.045 We're not talking about a flippant attitude in this fatherhood. 00:24:48.045 --> 00:24:50.483 He's the infinitely exalted One. 00:24:50.483 --> 00:24:52.562 But at the same time, God is personal. 00:24:52.562 --> 00:24:54.625 He's our Father. 00:24:54.625 --> 00:25:00.019 The God who spoke the universe into existence 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:03.511 is our Father. NOTE Paragraph 00:25:03.511 --> 00:25:05.090 At the present estimate, 00:25:05.090 --> 00:25:09.378 how many stars do you think there are? 00:25:09.378 --> 00:25:11.123 Ten thousand? 00:25:11.123 --> 00:25:15.351 Well, I think all the grade school kids here 00:25:15.351 --> 00:25:17.346 know better than that. 00:25:17.346 --> 00:25:21.087 How about ten thousand billion? 00:25:21.087 --> 00:25:23.134 That's a lot. 00:25:23.134 --> 00:25:26.994 How about ten thousand billion trillion? 00:25:26.994 --> 00:25:29.131 That's how many at the present estimate. 00:25:29.131 --> 00:25:30.828 It's probably more than that now. 00:25:30.828 --> 00:25:33.720 It's been a couple years since I read that. 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:34.882 So what's a trillion? 00:25:34.882 --> 00:25:38.904 When you take a million of something, 00:25:38.904 --> 00:25:44.001 and you take a million of those millions, 00:25:44.001 --> 00:25:45.771 we can't even imagine that. 00:25:45.771 --> 00:25:46.942 You've got a million; 00:25:46.942 --> 00:25:48.994 and you've got a million of those millions. 00:25:48.994 --> 00:25:51.533 Now take a billion of them. 00:25:51.533 --> 00:25:53.601 A billion of them. 00:25:53.601 --> 00:25:59.122 And take ten thousand of that billion trillion, 00:25:59.122 --> 00:26:01.452 and the Bible says, 00:26:01.452 --> 00:26:06.705 He calls them all by name. 00:26:06.705 --> 00:26:08.762 Because of the greatness of His power, 00:26:08.762 --> 00:26:10.090 not one of them's missing. 00:26:10.090 --> 00:26:11.189 He calls them out 00:26:11.189 --> 00:26:12.144 Now, think of this. 00:26:12.144 --> 00:26:14.066 He's not calling them "one-billion-one," 00:26:14.066 --> 00:26:16.182 "one-billion-two," "one-billion-three." 00:26:16.182 --> 00:26:18.584 You know what names are in the Bible? 00:26:18.584 --> 00:26:21.265 They talk about some characteristic of something. 00:26:21.265 --> 00:26:25.610 He's got a unique name for every one of those 00:26:25.610 --> 00:26:29.665 ten thousand billion trillion stars! 00:26:29.665 --> 00:26:32.887 And each name - mysterious names - 00:26:32.887 --> 00:26:35.974 and names that go into what the character 00:26:35.974 --> 00:26:41.540 of that star is. 00:26:41.540 --> 00:26:44.967 And He's your Father. 00:26:44.967 --> 00:26:51.291 What right do we have to be so unbelieving? 00:26:51.291 --> 00:26:53.933 It's pitiful, isn't it? 00:26:53.933 --> 00:26:58.150 We can't lay hold of it. 00:26:58.150 --> 00:26:59.606 We've got to ask our Father, 00:26:59.606 --> 00:27:01.733 "Help. Help me. Help me to see." 00:27:01.733 --> 00:27:11.756 "Help me to believe a little bit of what You're able to do!" 00:27:11.756 --> 00:27:14.092 Our God is a personal God. 00:27:14.092 --> 00:27:16.853 Now, you theologians, 00:27:16.853 --> 00:27:20.417 don't let philosophy rob you of this reality. 00:27:20.417 --> 00:27:21.756 Some of the things I've read 00:27:21.756 --> 00:27:24.433 about God's supposed impassibility - 00:27:24.433 --> 00:27:27.021 that is, His inability to experience 00:27:27.021 --> 00:27:28.839 pain or emotion - 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:33.097 they're sheer philosophy, and they fly in the face 00:27:33.097 --> 00:27:35.079 of a thousand Bible verses. 00:27:35.079 --> 00:27:37.141 It's from theologians thinking too long 00:27:37.141 --> 00:27:39.384 about God's infinity. 00:27:39.384 --> 00:27:42.859 If you do that, you can't hang on to His personality. 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:44.706 But they say, look, God's impassible. 00:27:44.706 --> 00:27:46.360 He can't be touched with emotion. 00:27:46.360 --> 00:27:50.597 Well, let me read a little bit to you. NOTE Paragraph 00:27:50.597 --> 00:27:53.189 "Grieve not the Spirit of God." 00:27:53.189 --> 00:27:55.641 Don't make Him sad. 00:27:55.641 --> 00:27:57.266 That's what the word grieve means. 00:27:57.266 --> 00:28:00.648 You can look it up and look at all the other verses. 00:28:00.648 --> 00:28:03.574 "As a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, 00:28:03.574 --> 00:28:07.796 so your God will rejoice over you." 00:28:07.796 --> 00:28:10.469 How many of you have ever been to a wedding? 00:28:10.469 --> 00:28:12.564 You think there's any emotion there? 00:28:12.564 --> 00:28:13.971 You look at the groom 00:28:13.971 --> 00:28:17.301 and the bride comes through - 00:28:17.301 --> 00:28:20.673 we don't believe this! 00:28:20.673 --> 00:28:23.000 The infinite God - 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:25.036 He says, "I'll rejoice over you 00:28:25.036 --> 00:28:30.443 like a groom rejoices over the bride." 00:28:30.443 --> 00:28:34.661 Isn't it amazing? 00:28:34.661 --> 00:28:37.195 "He will exult over you with joy. 00:28:37.195 --> 00:28:39.025 He will be quiet in His love. 00:28:39.025 --> 00:28:43.379 He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." 00:28:43.379 --> 00:28:47.503 That sounds like some emotion to me. 00:28:47.503 --> 00:28:49.202 "God so loved the world, 00:28:49.202 --> 00:28:51.806 that He gave His only Son." 00:28:51.806 --> 00:28:54.864 He delivered Him up. 00:28:54.864 --> 00:28:58.225 And we can't comprehend this, 00:28:58.225 --> 00:29:02.893 but we know this, it cost God greatly 00:29:02.893 --> 00:29:05.084 to crush His Son. 00:29:05.084 --> 00:29:06.269 That's a revelation. 00:29:06.269 --> 00:29:07.812 God revealed that to us. 00:29:07.812 --> 00:29:09.452 Think of Abraham 00:29:09.452 --> 00:29:11.121 and that offering up of Isaac. 00:29:11.121 --> 00:29:13.172 He says, "take now your son, 00:29:13.172 --> 00:29:16.654 your only son, whom you love." 00:29:16.654 --> 00:29:18.944 What's He saying to us? 00:29:18.944 --> 00:29:21.547 He's getting across that what Abraham felt, 00:29:21.547 --> 00:29:23.911 there's something, somehow 00:29:23.911 --> 00:29:32.815 connection with Him sacrificing His Son. 00:29:32.815 --> 00:29:35.584 Beloved, God is not some philosophical "X," 00:29:35.584 --> 00:29:36.903 He's our Father. 00:29:36.903 --> 00:29:39.019 "'Wherefore come out from among them 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:40.911 and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 00:29:40.911 --> 00:29:42.551 'and touch not the unclean thing, 00:29:42.551 --> 00:29:45.296 and I will receive you.'" I'll welcome you. 00:29:45.296 --> 00:29:48.536 "'And I will be a Father to you, 00:29:48.536 --> 00:29:51.610 and you shall be My sons and daughters,' 00:29:51.610 --> 00:29:55.763 saith the Lord Almighty." 00:29:55.763 --> 00:29:57.207 You see it? 00:29:57.207 --> 00:29:59.368 Your Father in Heaven. 00:29:59.368 --> 00:30:01.696 He's almighty, and here He says, 00:30:01.696 --> 00:30:03.366 "You'll be My sons and daughters." 00:30:03.366 --> 00:30:09.218 He treats the ladies - "You're My daughters." 00:30:09.218 --> 00:30:11.429 And to the men, He says, "You're My sons." 00:30:11.429 --> 00:30:14.305 Think of that. Isn't that special? 00:30:14.305 --> 00:30:24.714 This God that we're talking about. NOTE Paragraph 00:30:24.714 --> 00:30:27.970 Well, what are some of the implications 00:30:27.970 --> 00:30:34.409 of the fact that God is our Father in Heaven? 00:30:34.409 --> 00:30:37.765 I've got nine of these. 00:30:37.765 --> 00:30:39.777 And most of them come from the Gospels. 00:30:39.777 --> 00:30:41.137 Some come from other places 00:30:41.137 --> 00:30:46.489 where they're a little clearer. 00:30:46.489 --> 00:30:47.952 But some of the implications - 00:30:47.952 --> 00:30:50.828 and this will be the rest of the message. 00:30:50.828 --> 00:30:52.205 The first implication - 00:30:52.205 --> 00:30:54.557 I believe the most profound implication - 00:30:54.557 --> 00:30:56.530 and I hope that I'll be able somewhat 00:30:56.530 --> 00:31:00.439 to get it across. 00:31:00.439 --> 00:31:02.790 What's it mean that God is my Father? 00:31:02.790 --> 00:31:10.177 It means that I have a lap to climb into. 00:31:10.177 --> 00:31:17.216 I have Someone - you have Someone to hold you. 00:31:17.216 --> 00:31:20.617 You have a Father. 00:31:20.617 --> 00:31:24.937 You have a home. You belong. 00:31:24.937 --> 00:31:26.945 Think of the terrible state of those 00:31:26.945 --> 00:31:31.034 who have no heavenly Father. 00:31:31.034 --> 00:31:32.653 You're flying in a plane at night 00:31:32.653 --> 00:31:35.831 over some unknown city, 00:31:35.831 --> 00:31:38.664 looking down in the darkness 00:31:38.664 --> 00:31:40.307 on thousands and thousands 00:31:40.307 --> 00:31:42.069 of little specks of light, 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:49.495 and every one of them is a house. 00:31:49.495 --> 00:31:53.514 Unknown names. 00:31:53.514 --> 00:32:01.591 In those little specks of light are people. 00:32:01.591 --> 00:32:03.189 Unknown people. 00:32:03.189 --> 00:32:04.384 Thousands of them. 00:32:04.384 --> 00:32:05.827 Tens of thousands of them. 00:32:05.827 --> 00:32:08.105 Millions of them. 00:32:08.105 --> 00:32:11.080 And then you realize, you're one of those 00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:14.822 little, unknown... 00:32:14.822 --> 00:32:18.208 I'm talking about a person without God. 00:32:18.208 --> 00:32:24.280 The feeling that you have. 00:32:24.280 --> 00:32:26.052 Pascal said it like this, 00:32:26.052 --> 00:32:30.602 "When I consider the short duration of my life, 00:32:30.602 --> 00:32:32.718 swallowed up in the eternity 00:32:32.718 --> 00:32:35.023 before and after..." 00:32:35.023 --> 00:32:39.293 He's talking about our smallness in relation to time. 00:32:39.293 --> 00:32:42.718 "...When I consider the small space which I fill, 00:32:42.718 --> 00:32:45.871 or even can see engulfed in the infinite 00:32:45.871 --> 00:32:49.720 immensity of spaces of which I know nothing 00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:52.848 and which know nothing of me. 00:32:52.848 --> 00:32:56.024 I'm terrified. 00:32:56.024 --> 00:32:58.433 And I wonder that I'm here 00:32:58.433 --> 00:33:00.592 rather than there." 00:33:00.592 --> 00:33:03.319 Have you ever thought about it? 00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:04.802 "I'm here rather than there, 00:33:04.802 --> 00:33:09.549 for there's no reason why here rather than there, 00:33:09.549 --> 00:33:12.991 or now rather than then." 00:33:12.991 --> 00:33:15.215 He says I think about that - I'm terrified. 00:33:15.215 --> 00:33:18.356 You see, without God, 00:33:18.356 --> 00:33:21.164 man is an orphan in a vast, cold, 00:33:21.164 --> 00:33:24.138 very uncaring universe 00:33:24.138 --> 00:33:27.639 that doesn't even know he exists. 00:33:27.639 --> 00:33:29.076 And when you look out on those 00:33:29.076 --> 00:33:31.792 millions of stars in the darkness, 00:33:31.792 --> 00:33:34.785 if you have no heavenly Father, 00:33:34.785 --> 00:33:36.218 you are nothing. 00:33:36.218 --> 00:33:41.036 You are a nothing. 00:33:41.036 --> 00:33:42.415 And there's a terrible sense 00:33:42.415 --> 00:33:44.455 of insignificance and aloneness. 00:33:44.455 --> 00:33:46.222 I'll quote Pascal again. He says, 00:33:46.222 --> 00:33:52.549 "The eternal silence of those infinite spaces alarms me." 00:33:52.549 --> 00:33:54.528 But when you realize that your Father 00:33:54.528 --> 00:33:57.402 made all those stars, 00:33:57.402 --> 00:33:58.975 it's different, isn't it. 00:33:58.975 --> 00:34:01.297 And, that He's both infinite and personal. 00:34:01.297 --> 00:34:04.179 And He really does love you. 00:34:04.179 --> 00:34:06.936 Everything changes. You belong. 00:34:06.936 --> 00:34:08.302 You're accepted. 00:34:08.302 --> 00:34:10.680 And at the very root of all reality, 00:34:10.680 --> 00:34:11.820 you have a home. 00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:15.927 You have a place to go. NOTE Paragraph 00:34:15.927 --> 00:34:19.885 I remember one time I was in a strange city, 00:34:19.885 --> 00:34:22.275 and I was already a Christian, 00:34:22.275 --> 00:34:25.674 but it came over me - 00:34:25.674 --> 00:34:31.748 this sense of aloneness and smallness. 00:34:31.748 --> 00:34:33.996 It's terrifying. 00:34:33.996 --> 00:34:35.974 And then it came into my heart, 00:34:35.974 --> 00:34:37.286 "I will receive you. 00:34:37.286 --> 00:34:40.451 I will be a Father to you." 00:34:40.451 --> 00:34:42.098 And as soon as you have that, 00:34:42.098 --> 00:34:44.854 the infinite God is my Father! 00:34:44.854 --> 00:34:47.735 And everything's going to be alright. 00:34:47.735 --> 00:34:55.907 He's with me. 00:34:55.907 --> 00:34:57.096 You have a place to go. 00:34:57.096 --> 00:34:58.843 You have a home. You have a lap. 00:34:58.843 --> 00:35:01.240 You've found the ground of your existence 00:35:01.240 --> 00:35:04.425 and it's not some cold, abstract principle; 00:35:04.425 --> 00:35:10.047 it's the lap of a loving heavenly Father. 00:35:10.047 --> 00:35:12.506 Surely the opposite of that 00:35:12.506 --> 00:35:14.931 is part of what hell is. 00:35:14.931 --> 00:35:17.540 You remember Jesus talks about outer darkness 00:35:17.540 --> 00:35:19.431 and weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:35:19.431 --> 00:35:21.067 You look inside, there's warmth, 00:35:21.067 --> 00:35:22.698 there's a family, there's a home, 00:35:22.698 --> 00:35:25.224 there's rejoicing, there's Abraham 00:35:25.224 --> 00:35:28.787 and Isaac and Jacob coming; 00:35:28.787 --> 00:35:31.249 people coming from the east and west 00:35:31.249 --> 00:35:34.121 and reclining. 00:35:34.121 --> 00:35:37.639 And you're outside. They're in there. 00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:41.173 They have a Father. 00:35:41.173 --> 00:35:45.639 And you're outside in the darkness. 00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:46.796 No family. 00:35:46.796 --> 00:35:48.627 No Father. 00:35:48.627 --> 00:35:51.932 Well, I think the most fundamental meaning 00:35:51.932 --> 00:35:55.087 of having God as our Father, 00:35:55.087 --> 00:36:03.430 and that is we've found our reason for living. 00:36:03.430 --> 00:36:06.242 We've found the meaning of existence. NOTE Paragraph 00:36:06.242 --> 00:36:07.619 But the second thing, 00:36:07.619 --> 00:36:09.694 that God is my Father means 00:36:09.694 --> 00:36:11.628 that I never need to be afraid 00:36:11.628 --> 00:36:14.735 because God cares for me 00:36:14.735 --> 00:36:17.321 in a personal and intimate way. 00:36:17.321 --> 00:36:19.206 Matthew 10:29-30, 00:36:19.206 --> 00:36:23.033 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? 00:36:23.033 --> 00:36:25.541 And yet, not one of them will fall 00:36:25.541 --> 00:36:31.379 to the ground apart from your Father, 00:36:31.379 --> 00:36:34.029 but the very hairs of your head 00:36:34.029 --> 00:36:36.904 are all numbered." 00:36:36.904 --> 00:36:43.258 Jesus says, "Don't fear them that kill the body." 00:36:43.258 --> 00:36:45.468 The One who names every star 00:36:45.468 --> 00:36:48.511 has numbered the hairs on your head. 00:36:48.511 --> 00:36:50.587 He cares that much about you. 00:36:50.587 --> 00:36:52.572 And you know, it's not the idea 00:36:52.572 --> 00:36:55.445 just that God knows how many hairs are on your head, 00:36:55.445 --> 00:36:58.308 He knew how many hairs were on Hitler's head. 00:36:58.308 --> 00:36:59.972 That's not the point. 00:36:59.972 --> 00:37:03.724 But that He's that concerned about you. 00:37:03.724 --> 00:37:07.715 That concerned, 00:37:07.715 --> 00:37:10.802 that not one sparrow can fall to the ground. 00:37:10.802 --> 00:37:12.700 You say, how do I know I won't 00:37:12.700 --> 00:37:14.498 fall to the ground and get killed? 00:37:14.498 --> 00:37:16.306 You don't know, but you do know this, 00:37:16.306 --> 00:37:18.530 it's not going to happen without your Father 00:37:18.530 --> 00:37:20.000 being right there 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.920 controlling the whole thing. 00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:26.427 The context of these verses in Matthew 10 00:37:26.427 --> 00:37:28.749 is persecution, but it applies to every area 00:37:28.749 --> 00:37:31.540 where we might be tempted to fear. 00:37:31.540 --> 00:37:38.587 God won't just let anything "happen" to us. 00:37:38.587 --> 00:37:41.438 He cares for me in a personal and intimate way. 00:37:41.438 --> 00:37:44.132 Not one of those little birds 00:37:44.132 --> 00:37:48.744 can fall to the ground apart from your Father. NOTE Paragraph 00:37:48.744 --> 00:37:50.644 But the third thing 00:37:50.644 --> 00:37:52.523 that the fatherhood of God means to me: 00:37:52.523 --> 00:37:54.021 the fact that God is my Father 00:37:54.021 --> 00:37:56.635 means He will provide for me. 00:37:56.635 --> 00:37:58.483 Now, we know these things. 00:37:58.483 --> 00:38:01.370 Matthew 6:26-33. 00:38:01.370 --> 00:38:03.318 "Look at the birds of the air, 00:38:03.318 --> 00:38:04.578 that they do not sow, 00:38:04.578 --> 00:38:05.690 neither do they reap, 00:38:05.690 --> 00:38:06.926 nor gather into barns, 00:38:06.926 --> 00:38:12.657 yet your Heavenly Father feeds them." 00:38:12.657 --> 00:38:14.948 So there's the food thing. 00:38:14.948 --> 00:38:17.872 "Are you not worth much more than they?" 00:38:17.872 --> 00:38:20.523 He goes on, "Why are you anxious about clothing?" 00:38:20.523 --> 00:38:22.074 So now He's dealing with that. 00:38:22.074 --> 00:38:25.764 "Observe how the lilies of the field grow. 00:38:25.764 --> 00:38:27.737 They do not toil, nor do they spin, 00:38:27.737 --> 00:38:31.038 yet I say that even Solomon in all his glory 00:38:31.038 --> 00:38:33.372 did not clothe himself like one of these, 00:38:33.372 --> 00:38:37.850 but if God so arrays the grass of the field, 00:38:37.850 --> 00:38:40.964 which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, 00:38:40.964 --> 00:38:43.594 will He not much more do so for you, 00:38:43.594 --> 00:38:46.072 O men of little faith? 00:38:46.072 --> 00:38:47.602 Do not be anxious then, saying, 00:38:47.602 --> 00:38:49.834 what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? 00:38:49.834 --> 00:38:52.079 Or with what shall we clothe ourselves? 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:55.531 For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek, 00:38:55.531 --> 00:38:59.658 for your Heavenly Father knows 00:38:59.658 --> 00:39:04.043 that you need all these things." 00:39:04.043 --> 00:39:05.656 So God is my Father. 00:39:05.656 --> 00:39:07.222 He'll feed me. He'll clothe me. 00:39:07.222 --> 00:39:08.676 He'll provide for me. 00:39:08.676 --> 00:39:12.546 What right do I have to be anxious? 00:39:12.546 --> 00:39:14.916 I'm not telling you anything you don't know, 00:39:14.916 --> 00:39:18.905 but beloved, how much have we entered into this? 00:39:18.905 --> 00:39:21.522 Can you imagine a life where you don't have 00:39:21.522 --> 00:39:24.243 any anxiety at all about any of that stuff 00:39:24.243 --> 00:39:26.576 because you know God is going to 00:39:26.576 --> 00:39:27.821 take care of it all? 00:39:27.821 --> 00:39:29.618 That He's infinite in power? 00:39:29.618 --> 00:39:31.408 That's what Jesus is talking about. 00:39:31.408 --> 00:39:34.300 He's talking about freedom from fear 00:39:34.300 --> 00:39:35.644 of somebody killing you. 00:39:35.644 --> 00:39:38.023 He's talking about freedom from fear 00:39:38.023 --> 00:39:41.749 of not having food or clothing or provision. 00:39:41.749 --> 00:39:43.623 Just to be totally free. 00:39:43.623 --> 00:39:46.492 Look, my Father owns everything. 00:39:46.492 --> 00:39:48.872 He spoke the universe into existence 00:39:48.872 --> 00:39:50.119 and all those stars. 00:39:50.119 --> 00:39:52.099 I don't have anything possible 00:39:52.099 --> 00:39:53.958 that could happen to me. 00:39:53.958 --> 00:39:57.752 A little bird can't fall to the ground. 00:39:57.752 --> 00:40:00.985 Think of this. 00:40:00.985 --> 00:40:03.426 The fact that God is my Father, 00:40:03.426 --> 00:40:07.499 it means that I don't have to use vain repetitions 00:40:07.499 --> 00:40:09.870 like the Gentiles do. 00:40:09.870 --> 00:40:11.334 He says your Father knows 00:40:11.334 --> 00:40:14.849 that you need those things 00:40:14.849 --> 00:40:17.249 before you ask. NOTE Paragraph 00:40:17.249 --> 00:40:19.693 Number four: the fact that God is my Father 00:40:19.693 --> 00:40:23.495 means that I can trust Him implicitly. 00:40:23.495 --> 00:40:24.645 Now listen to this, 00:40:24.645 --> 00:40:25.987 "What man is there among you 00:40:25.987 --> 00:40:27.777 when his son shall ask him for a loaf 00:40:27.777 --> 00:40:30.237 will give him a stone? 00:40:30.237 --> 00:40:31.773 Or if he shall ask for a fish, 00:40:31.773 --> 00:40:34.068 he will not give him a snake, will he? 00:40:34.068 --> 00:40:36.567 If you then, being evil..." 00:40:36.567 --> 00:40:38.738 Now fathers - the best fathers - 00:40:38.738 --> 00:40:41.732 compared to the Heavenly Father are evil. 00:40:41.732 --> 00:40:44.473 They come so far short of what He is, 00:40:44.473 --> 00:40:47.058 but even we know how to give good gifts 00:40:47.058 --> 00:40:48.416 to our children. 00:40:48.416 --> 00:40:53.457 "How much more shall your Heavenly Father 00:40:53.457 --> 00:40:56.680 give what is good to those who ask Him?" 00:40:56.680 --> 00:40:58.772 Why would the Lord give this teaching? 00:40:58.772 --> 00:41:01.138 Well, because the devil is always telling us - 00:41:01.138 --> 00:41:05.308 you know the word "devil" (diabolos) means slanderer. 00:41:05.308 --> 00:41:08.772 And he's constantly slandering God to man, 00:41:08.772 --> 00:41:12.657 and he'll tell you that the kind of Father you have, 00:41:12.657 --> 00:41:15.487 that if you ask Him for an egg, 00:41:15.487 --> 00:41:17.379 He'll give you a scorpion. 00:41:17.379 --> 00:41:20.106 The devil tells you that. 00:41:20.106 --> 00:41:21.207 Constantly. 00:41:21.207 --> 00:41:22.977 He'll tell you God's a liar. 00:41:22.977 --> 00:41:24.774 "You shall not surely die." 00:41:24.774 --> 00:41:27.163 He tells you God's holding out on you. 00:41:27.163 --> 00:41:30.783 God knows that if you eat that, you'll have something good. 00:41:30.783 --> 00:41:33.423 He'll tell you that the good land 00:41:33.423 --> 00:41:34.636 that God is giving you 00:41:34.636 --> 00:41:37.436 devours its inhabitants. 00:41:37.436 --> 00:41:40.273 If you go in there, it will eat you up. 00:41:40.273 --> 00:41:44.357 All those slanders about the character of God. 00:41:44.357 --> 00:41:49.063 I've shared a lot more examples of this 00:41:49.063 --> 00:41:53.789 in talking about our adversary the slanderer, 00:41:53.789 --> 00:41:55.843 but there's so many of them. 00:41:55.843 --> 00:41:57.925 I was thinking before 00:41:57.925 --> 00:41:59.402 when I was preparing this, 00:41:59.402 --> 00:42:02.479 I was thinking of how many young people there are here. 00:42:02.479 --> 00:42:04.689 So you girls, you're praying, and you say, 00:42:04.689 --> 00:42:07.860 "Lord, I want You to choose a husband for me." 00:42:07.860 --> 00:42:09.372 Or you guys, you're praying, 00:42:09.372 --> 00:42:11.349 "Lord, I want to put it in Your hands. 00:42:11.349 --> 00:42:14.406 I want You to choose my wife." 00:42:14.406 --> 00:42:16.319 And the devil's right there saying, 00:42:16.319 --> 00:42:18.520 "Don't do that! 00:42:18.520 --> 00:42:26.060 God will give you the ugliest girl imaginable. 00:42:26.060 --> 00:42:28.080 Or, if you do that, 00:42:28.080 --> 00:42:29.926 you won't even get married at all. 00:42:29.926 --> 00:42:31.406 He won't even give you a wife. 00:42:31.406 --> 00:42:35.557 You've got to take this in your own hands." 00:42:35.557 --> 00:42:37.335 See, it all goes back to: 00:42:37.335 --> 00:42:38.872 do I have a Father? 00:42:38.872 --> 00:42:48.831 Do I have a loving Heavenly Father who can do anything? 00:42:48.831 --> 00:42:52.961 A.W. Tozer was telling his congregation one day 00:42:52.961 --> 00:42:55.018 about how he had put his little daughter 00:42:55.018 --> 00:42:56.151 into God's hands 00:42:56.151 --> 00:42:58.523 just for whatever God would have for her, 00:42:58.523 --> 00:43:01.280 and a woman came up after the sermon. 00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:05.268 She said, "Aren't you afraid to do that?" 00:43:05.268 --> 00:43:07.042 Think of what kind of God 00:43:07.042 --> 00:43:10.301 the devil tells us we have. 00:43:10.301 --> 00:43:14.879 You know, that he's an "evil" type God. 00:43:14.879 --> 00:43:17.149 I can trust Him implicitly. 00:43:17.149 --> 00:43:18.664 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:43:18.664 --> 00:43:20.884 He's saying you will never come 00:43:20.884 --> 00:43:22.847 as a child of your Heavenly Father 00:43:22.847 --> 00:43:25.140 and say, "Father, will You give me an egg?" 00:43:25.140 --> 00:43:27.692 and He says, "I will, son, now close your eyes 00:43:27.692 --> 00:43:29.179 and put out your hand," 00:43:29.179 --> 00:43:31.887 and He drops a scorpion into it. 00:43:31.887 --> 00:43:34.362 He'll never do that. 00:43:34.362 --> 00:43:40.933 He'll give good things to those who ask Him. NOTE Paragraph 00:43:40.933 --> 00:43:43.152 Number five: the fact that God is my Father 00:43:43.152 --> 00:43:45.031 means that I never need to make 00:43:45.031 --> 00:43:48.416 an outward show of goodness. 00:43:48.416 --> 00:43:51.404 God is able to keep track of everything in secret 00:43:51.404 --> 00:43:52.978 and reward me in ways 00:43:52.978 --> 00:43:56.065 that no man ever could. 00:43:56.065 --> 00:43:57.807 Oh, that we could lay hold of this. 00:43:57.807 --> 00:44:00.943 "Beware of practicing your righteousness 00:44:00.943 --> 00:44:03.549 before men to be noticed by them, 00:44:03.549 --> 00:44:05.874 otherwise you have no reward 00:44:05.874 --> 00:44:09.883 with your Father who is in Heaven." 00:44:09.883 --> 00:44:11.831 And He goes through three things. 00:44:11.831 --> 00:44:13.605 "When you give alms, 00:44:13.605 --> 00:44:16.028 do not sound a trumpet." 00:44:16.028 --> 00:44:18.805 You want your alms to be in secret. 00:44:18.805 --> 00:44:20.499 Don't let your left hand know 00:44:20.499 --> 00:44:22.114 what your right hand's doing. 00:44:22.114 --> 00:44:24.335 "And your Father who sees in secret 00:44:24.335 --> 00:44:26.018 will repay you." 00:44:26.018 --> 00:44:28.706 When you pray, don't be like these hypocrites. 00:44:28.706 --> 00:44:30.052 They stand out in the open. 00:44:30.052 --> 00:44:31.471 They want to be seen by men. 00:44:31.471 --> 00:44:34.577 Go into your inner room, 00:44:34.577 --> 00:44:36.457 and shut the door, 00:44:36.457 --> 00:44:38.743 and pray to your Father 00:44:38.743 --> 00:44:40.807 who is in secret. 00:44:40.807 --> 00:44:42.849 That's where God is. 00:44:42.849 --> 00:44:45.377 You say, God's so far away; 00:44:45.377 --> 00:44:47.166 I can't find God. Where is He? 00:44:47.166 --> 00:44:50.681 Well, He's in secret. 00:44:50.681 --> 00:44:54.132 "And your Father who sees in secret 00:44:54.132 --> 00:44:57.220 will repay you." 00:44:57.220 --> 00:44:59.074 And then He talks about fasting - 00:44:59.074 --> 00:45:01.821 not to put on a gloomy face 00:45:01.821 --> 00:45:04.787 to be seen fasting by men. 00:45:04.787 --> 00:45:06.583 "When you fast, anoint your head 00:45:06.583 --> 00:45:07.630 and wash your face, 00:45:07.630 --> 00:45:10.156 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, 00:45:10.156 --> 00:45:13.158 but by your Father who is in secret. 00:45:13.158 --> 00:45:15.548 And your Father who sees in secret 00:45:15.548 --> 00:45:18.152 will repay you." 00:45:18.152 --> 00:45:19.249 Think of this: 00:45:19.249 --> 00:45:22.584 I don't have to put on a show to men. 00:45:22.584 --> 00:45:25.325 It doesn't matter what men think anyway. 00:45:25.325 --> 00:45:28.439 God knows. He sees everything in secret. 00:45:28.439 --> 00:45:30.317 Every bit of it He knows. 00:45:30.317 --> 00:45:35.566 And He said I'm not going to let you miss out. 00:45:35.566 --> 00:45:38.884 Just as I was preparing this, I'm thinking, 00:45:38.884 --> 00:45:41.498 Lord, over and over You're saying 00:45:41.498 --> 00:45:45.500 He will reward you; He will reward you. 00:45:45.500 --> 00:45:50.025 If you fast, if you pray, if you give 00:45:50.025 --> 00:45:52.317 in the presence of your Father, 00:45:52.317 --> 00:45:54.460 He'll reward you. 00:45:54.460 --> 00:45:57.901 We can be sure He will. 00:45:57.901 --> 00:45:59.518 He keeps perfect records. 00:45:59.518 --> 00:46:01.241 He sees everything in secret 00:46:01.241 --> 00:46:02.957 because He's infinite. 00:46:02.957 --> 00:46:04.910 And He will reward. NOTE Paragraph 00:46:04.910 --> 00:46:07.351 Number six: the fact that God is my Father 00:46:07.351 --> 00:46:09.983 means that I have a perfect example 00:46:09.983 --> 00:46:12.605 to pattern my life after. 00:46:12.605 --> 00:46:18.964 I've got a Father worthy of emulating in every way. 00:46:18.964 --> 00:46:20.485 "You've heard that it was said 00:46:20.485 --> 00:46:22.766 you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, 00:46:22.766 --> 00:46:24.562 but I say unto you, love your enemies 00:46:24.562 --> 00:46:26.907 and pray for those who persecute you, 00:46:26.907 --> 00:46:28.824 in order that you may be sons 00:46:28.824 --> 00:46:31.690 of your Father who is in Heaven. 00:46:31.690 --> 00:46:34.380 For He causes His sun to rise 00:46:34.380 --> 00:46:36.453 on the evil and the good, 00:46:36.453 --> 00:46:39.741 and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." 00:46:39.741 --> 00:46:40.724 I like that. 00:46:40.724 --> 00:46:45.666 It's like a little kid has an orange ball. 00:46:45.666 --> 00:46:49.245 God has His sun. "That's My sun." 00:46:49.245 --> 00:46:51.764 God causes His sun to shine. 00:46:51.764 --> 00:46:56.019 He causes His sun to shine on this earth. 00:46:56.019 --> 00:46:59.706 And He sends rain on the righteous 00:46:59.706 --> 00:47:07.530 and the unrighteous. 00:47:07.530 --> 00:47:09.824 He says, "if you love those who love you, 00:47:09.824 --> 00:47:11.127 what reward have you? 00:47:11.127 --> 00:47:14.135 Do not even the tax gatherers do the same? 00:47:14.135 --> 00:47:16.012 And if you greet your brothers only, 00:47:16.012 --> 00:47:17.742 what do you do more than others? 00:47:17.742 --> 00:47:20.084 Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 00:47:20.084 --> 00:47:22.305 Therefore, you are to be perfect 00:47:22.305 --> 00:47:26.664 as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 00:47:26.664 --> 00:47:30.821 We know how young sons want to imitate their fathers. 00:47:30.821 --> 00:47:33.440 Well, here's a Father worthy of imitation 00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:35.361 in every way. 00:47:35.361 --> 00:47:37.736 And the Lord Jesus looks at what's happening 00:47:37.736 --> 00:47:38.860 in the world around us. 00:47:38.860 --> 00:47:41.146 He says, look, your Father's being kind 00:47:41.146 --> 00:47:44.806 to these ungrateful and evil men. 00:47:44.806 --> 00:47:46.655 You imitate Him. 00:47:46.655 --> 00:47:48.044 "Love your enemies. 00:47:48.044 --> 00:47:49.135 Do good and lend 00:47:49.135 --> 00:47:50.721 expecting nothing in return, 00:47:50.721 --> 00:47:52.422 and your reward will be great, 00:47:52.422 --> 00:47:56.372 and you will be sons of the Most High, 00:47:56.372 --> 00:47:58.930 for He Himself is kind 00:47:58.930 --> 00:48:01.203 to ungrateful and evil men. 00:48:01.203 --> 00:48:03.774 Be merciful, 00:48:03.774 --> 00:48:07.786 just as your Father is merciful." NOTE Paragraph 00:48:07.786 --> 00:48:10.396 Number seven: 00:48:10.396 --> 00:48:20.398 (Is this good hermeneutics, Jesse, to have nine points?) 00:48:20.398 --> 00:48:22.157 The fact that God is my Father means 00:48:22.157 --> 00:48:23.537 that He loves me too much 00:48:23.537 --> 00:48:25.802 to leave me without discipline. 00:48:25.802 --> 00:48:27.882 Isn't that something? 00:48:27.882 --> 00:48:29.633 Hebrews 12, "You have forgotten 00:48:29.633 --> 00:48:32.625 the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. 00:48:32.625 --> 00:48:35.880 My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, 00:48:35.880 --> 00:48:38.064 nor faint when you are reproved by Him. 00:48:38.064 --> 00:48:40.008 For those whom the Lord loves, 00:48:40.008 --> 00:48:42.383 He disciplines and He scourges every son 00:48:42.383 --> 00:48:44.384 whom He receives. 00:48:44.384 --> 00:48:46.266 It is for discipline that you endure; 00:48:46.266 --> 00:48:48.378 God deals with you as with sons. 00:48:48.378 --> 00:48:54.379 For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 00:48:54.379 --> 00:48:56.073 He disciplines us for our good, 00:48:56.073 --> 00:48:59.602 that we may share His holiness. 00:48:59.602 --> 00:49:01.024 All discipline for the moment 00:49:01.024 --> 00:49:03.117 seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. 00:49:03.117 --> 00:49:05.260 Yet to those who have been trained by it 00:49:05.260 --> 00:49:11.184 afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." 00:49:11.184 --> 00:49:14.962 Proverbs 3:12, "For whom the Lord loves, He reproves, 00:49:14.962 --> 00:49:19.143 even as a father the son in whom he delights." 00:49:19.143 --> 00:49:23.662 So, God loves me too much to leave me without discipline. 00:49:23.662 --> 00:49:26.894 That doesn't mean that every hard thing that happens to us 00:49:26.894 --> 00:49:28.371 is a punishment for sin. 00:49:28.371 --> 00:49:33.406 Sometimes a trainer will have a runner carry weights - 00:49:33.406 --> 00:49:35.071 something like that - 00:49:35.071 --> 00:49:37.856 he's not punishing him; he's disciplining him, 00:49:37.856 --> 00:49:41.150 preparing him; making him stronger. 00:49:41.150 --> 00:49:44.891 God does that too. NOTE Paragraph 00:49:44.891 --> 00:49:47.480 Number eight: The fact that God is my Father 00:49:47.480 --> 00:49:50.121 means that His attitude toward me 00:49:50.121 --> 00:49:53.712 is one of kindness and compassion; 00:49:53.712 --> 00:49:56.055 not harshness and rejection. 00:49:56.055 --> 00:49:58.868 How many people are going around 00:49:58.868 --> 00:50:00.822 thinking that God is carrying this club 00:50:00.822 --> 00:50:02.265 waiting for them to slip up 00:50:02.265 --> 00:50:06.291 so that He can smash them? 00:50:06.291 --> 00:50:08.840 Jesus talks about this even in conversion. 00:50:08.840 --> 00:50:12.661 He says (Luke 15), "While he was still a long way off, 00:50:12.661 --> 00:50:16.190 his father saw him and felt compassion 00:50:16.190 --> 00:50:19.105 and ran and embraced him and kissed him." 00:50:19.105 --> 00:50:21.391 He's telling us what God is like 00:50:21.391 --> 00:50:25.437 in His attitude toward us. 00:50:25.437 --> 00:50:27.673 Psalm 103:13-14, 00:50:27.673 --> 00:50:31.292 "Just as a father has compassion on his children, 00:50:31.292 --> 00:50:34.875 so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, 00:50:34.875 --> 00:50:37.827 for He Himself knows our frame; 00:50:37.827 --> 00:50:40.344 He is mindful that we are but dust." 00:50:40.344 --> 00:50:44.190 Think of what a wonderful thing that is! 00:50:44.190 --> 00:50:45.783 When I'm going through a trial, 00:50:45.783 --> 00:50:47.213 God knows our frame. 00:50:47.213 --> 00:50:48.681 He has compassion on us. 00:50:48.681 --> 00:50:51.761 He's mindful. 00:50:51.761 --> 00:50:53.241 My Father understands. 00:50:53.241 --> 00:50:54.775 He knows my frame. 00:50:54.775 --> 00:50:56.398 His attitude's one of compassion. 00:50:56.398 --> 00:50:58.896 He's so patient. He's so merciful. 00:50:58.896 --> 00:51:01.349 He's not a harsh taskmaster. 00:51:01.349 --> 00:51:04.129 Malachi 3:17, "'They shall be Mine,' 00:51:04.129 --> 00:51:05.368 says the Lord of Hosts, 00:51:05.368 --> 00:51:08.140 'On the day when I make up My own possession, 00:51:08.140 --> 00:51:10.125 and I will have compassion on them 00:51:10.125 --> 00:51:15.059 as a man has compassion on his own son who serves him.'" NOTE Paragraph 00:51:15.059 --> 00:51:17.437 Last one. 00:51:17.437 --> 00:51:20.989 And I truly am sorry to have so many points. 00:51:20.989 --> 00:51:23.065 The fact that God is my Father means 00:51:23.065 --> 00:51:27.923 that He delights to give me an inheritance. 00:51:27.923 --> 00:51:30.443 You may feel ever so weak and afraid 00:51:30.443 --> 00:51:32.262 you may not even make it to heaven. 00:51:32.262 --> 00:51:34.446 Satan may tell you that God doesn't want you 00:51:34.446 --> 00:51:35.901 to make it to heaven. 00:51:35.901 --> 00:51:37.940 And that He's against you. 00:51:37.940 --> 00:51:41.130 That isn't true. 00:51:41.130 --> 00:51:43.454 Jesus said, "It's not the will of your Father 00:51:43.454 --> 00:51:46.131 who is in Heaven that one of these little ones..." 00:51:46.131 --> 00:51:47.599 He's talking about believers. 00:51:47.599 --> 00:51:50.390 "...That one of these little ones should perish." 00:51:50.390 --> 00:51:56.609 And none of them will. Not one. 00:51:56.609 --> 00:51:59.561 Right after Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom, 00:51:59.561 --> 00:52:01.297 He immediately assures us, 00:52:01.297 --> 00:52:03.273 "Fear not, little flock, 00:52:03.273 --> 00:52:08.826 your Father has chosen gladly to give you the Kingdom." 00:52:08.826 --> 00:52:10.811 And according to the Lord Jesus, 00:52:10.811 --> 00:52:13.238 there's a day coming when the righteous 00:52:13.238 --> 00:52:16.160 will shine forth like the sun 00:52:16.160 --> 00:52:20.344 in the kingdom of their Father. NOTE Paragraph 00:52:20.344 --> 00:52:22.941 Well, there's so much more that could be said. 00:52:22.941 --> 00:52:25.738 So much hinges on this love relationship 00:52:25.738 --> 00:52:29.418 between Father and son or Father and daughter. 00:52:29.418 --> 00:52:31.825 When our love for the Father 00:52:31.825 --> 00:52:33.560 is really strong and clear, 00:52:33.560 --> 00:52:36.981 immediately we think about His name, 00:52:36.981 --> 00:52:38.936 wanting His name to be glorified. 00:52:38.936 --> 00:52:40.615 Immediately we think about wanting 00:52:40.615 --> 00:52:42.457 His kingdom to be advanced. 00:52:42.457 --> 00:52:43.807 You don't have to say, 00:52:43.807 --> 00:52:46.242 well, I've got to remember now 00:52:46.242 --> 00:52:49.126 to be concerned about the name of God. 00:52:49.126 --> 00:52:50.622 It just happens automatically 00:52:50.622 --> 00:52:52.994 when you're full of love for Him. 00:52:52.994 --> 00:52:54.782 And it happens automatically 00:52:54.782 --> 00:52:57.329 that when you pray for your daily bread, 00:52:57.329 --> 00:53:00.191 it's in connection with wanting His kingdom to come, 00:53:00.191 --> 00:53:01.758 not just selfish. 00:53:01.758 --> 00:53:04.020 And wanting to have victory over sin; 00:53:04.020 --> 00:53:05.498 wanting forgiveness for sin, 00:53:05.498 --> 00:53:07.381 and deliverance from sin 00:53:07.381 --> 00:53:10.579 is not so you'll feel better about yourself. 00:53:10.579 --> 00:53:14.067 But so that you can what? 00:53:14.067 --> 00:53:18.156 So that you can let your light so shine 00:53:18.156 --> 00:53:19.877 that men will see your good works 00:53:19.877 --> 00:53:22.816 and glorify your Father 00:53:22.816 --> 00:53:26.217 who is in Heaven. 00:53:26.217 --> 00:53:31.673 Well, Jesus said when you pray, 00:53:31.673 --> 00:53:36.028 say, "Our Father in Heaven." 00:53:36.028 --> 00:53:40.548 May God help us to believe and lay hold of these things. 00:53:40.548 --> 00:53:42.091 Amen.